"The old saying, "No money, no Swiss," dates to the early days of the state, but it is no less relevant today than it was 500 years ago. Money is the lifeblood of militaries now just as it was then. In case anyone hasn’t noticed, the United States is running out of it.

The Panic of ’08 is in full swing, and whether it will end in recession or depression no one knows. Either way DOD will find it is no longer at the head of the line at the federal soup kitchen. Bailing out the economy will take precedence over fighting foreign bogeyman, not to speak of spending hundreds of billions preparing to battle some hypothetical "peer competitor." DOD’s trough won’t run dry, but it should expect thinner swill and less of it.

i told this to my mom and dad in 2001 when W. went on tv and told the american public that the best thing they could do for the war effort was to keep the economy strong by going to disneyland! i suspected something was wrong that very day.

the driving priciple behind ANY form of goverment is the ability to organise societal assests for War. everything else flows from that; roads, infrastructure, industry, trade, education, cultural cohesion.

this is not to say that war powers have not been recently abused, perhaps to the breaking point. i happen to have an audience of young men and women in the military and i cannot describe the look on their faces when i mentioned a few weeks ago that their pay would be secure UNLESS... the goverment would decide to lower it.

there was much incredulity and disbelief. some of them refused to think that it could happen. others just got worried, concerned for some of the obligations they had recently taken on, houses, corvettes, and women...

i've told my son for years that capital warships are so named for the capital it takes to build and operate them, not for the capital idea they represent. this month he asked me how he could be more frugal in his lifestyle (i suggested learning to cook) and saving his money instead of buying three cars a year. in the last 3 weeks he decided against a corvette zo6, and bought an iphone3g instead. babysteps to be sure, but steps none the less. (i must say that the 3g is the s#!t.)

personally i'll be happy for our 21st century adventurism curtailed. let our enemies fight the Void, The Empty Jacket. and keep my son and his friends close to home, making rank in a time of relative peace.

let the Economy crash.

War will come soon enough.

i'll plant a Victory Garden instead and have the grandaughter move in with us.